The Transport Minister is considering a proposal to make the wearing of life jackets on vessels under 6m compulsory, but it could be the middle of the year before any decision is made.
Some councils are already enforcing updated navigational safety bylaws, making it compulsory in their area for life jackets to be worn on smaller boats, while other councils fear they cannot because local bylaws will not have the full legal effect until national legislation is introduced.
But harbourmasters in areas where bylaws have already been changed say a local bylaw stands on its own legally, so there is no barrier to councils going ahead and making life jacket wearing compulsory if they want to.
The present national rules require boat skippers to store life jackets on board, but they are only required to be worn when conditions are risky, such as in rough seas or storms.
In October, the National Pleasure Boat Safety Forum proposed a law change to require everyone on board boats under 6m to wear a life jacket, unless the skipper deemed it safe enough to take them off.
The change was proposed because research showed 85% of boating fatalities occurred with boats under 6m.
The minister has asked for more statistical information before taking it any further.
The forum is reviewing reaction to regional life jacket bylaws, as well as an increased life jacket education programme in place this summer, and will report back to the minister after its April meeting.
Responsibility for navigational safety on waterways is divided, so rules can be quite different in different places.
For example, in Otago, the Queenstown Lakes District Council is responsible for navigational safety on all waterways in its patch, including lakes and rivers.
The Central Otago District Council is responsible for navigational safety on Lake Dunstan and the Otago Regional Council for navigational safety at Karitane and on Otago Harbour.
Navigational safety on all other waterways in Otago is the responsibility of Maritime New Zealand.
The present national rules for wearing life jackets apply everywhere in Otago, except in the Queenstown Lakes District Council area.
The QLDC is one of at least four councils - others include Environment Southland, Environment Waikato and the Wellington Regional Council - that already enforce the compulsory wearing of life jackets under local bylaws.
The QLDC rule has been in place since 2009, when the council's navigational safety bylaws were updated as part of a semi-regular review.
Environment Southland included a similar change when it updated its navigational safety bylaws about 18 months ago.
At the time, harbourmaster Kevin O'Sullivan said scores of people were injured or died every year because they were not wearing life jackets when they ended up in the water.
"Really, these are issues that you shouldn't have to regulate, but what we've found is that if there isn't some measure of compulsion, people get slack and don't take the issue seriously."
Lake Dunstan harbourmaster Shayne Hitchcock supported making wearing life jackets compulsory, but said his council would be waiting for the proposed national law to be introduced before making any changes to local bylaws to reflect it.
It was costly and time-consuming to change a single aspect of a bylaw, and there were concerns about the legal limits of such a policy ahead of national changes, he said.
ORC harbourmaster Jeff Donaldson said he fully supported making the wearing of life jackets compulsory on vessels under 6m, and it was likely the council would do so when its navigational safety bylaws were reviewed later this year.
The review - all councils review these bylaws every few years or when Maritime NZ makes significant changes to navigational safety rules - would also look at various other changes.
It was unlikely it would be reviewed with only the life jacket rule in mind, because it was just one of many changes. It made sense to make all changes at the same time, Mr Donaldson said.
The Marlborough District Council has changed its bylaw, but is not enforcing it because the council believes that until a national rule change is made, the bylaw cannot be properly enforced.
Environment Canterbury, which has responsibility for navigational safety on the Upper Waitaki Lakes, also introduced the compulsory wearing of life jackets into its bylaw before Christmas, but will not enforce it until April 1.
Officials told the Marlborough Express they, too, were concerned about what would happen if the maritime law was not passed by the time the bylaw was officially enacted.
"If we were to try and prosecute [under the bylaw], we would probably lose," Ecan navigational safety manager Evan Walker said.
Mr O'Sullivan told Radio New Zealand this week he believed those sorts of concerns were wrong.
"We've had a legal opinion on it, and the bylaws, when they are replaced, are law in every way. Therefore, you must do what's in the bylaws, which in this particular case is to wear a life jacket.
"The fact that there is a national requirement that might be seen to be dragging the chain is neither here nor there in areas that already have bylaws and are enforcing them."
In Queenstown Lakes, they are also confident the bylaw is enforceable in law.
QLDC general manager of regulatory and corporate services Roger Taylor said the council's lawyers were involved in drafting the bylaw, paying particular attention to the provision around life jackets, as it was new, and the bylaw was reviewed by Maritime NZ.
"I am very comfortable that council has the authority to make such a law and enforce it."
Queenstown Lakes harbourmaster Marty Black said said using the cost or work involved as reasons not to change a bylaw did not stack up.
"If you only get to save one life, it's worthwhile."
His team had taken a harder line on the rule this summer and issued about nine infringement notices between September and Christmas.
Those resulted in some publicity, and none had been issued since then, he said.
No-one had challenged the bylaw yet, he said.
He could not understand why it was not national law.
"It's simple. Wear a life jacket, and it could save your life. It's common sense, like putting on a seat belt every time you get in a car."
Authorities needed to be proactive, not reactive, he said.
"There are several cases I can think of where people who would have lived, if they had been wearing life jackets."
LIFE JACKET RULES
Nationally (except in Southland, Queenstown Lakes District Council area, Wellington and Waikato)
• Compulsory for all skippers to carry life jackets the right size for everyone on board.
• However, people may choose not to wear them, unless the skipper deems it necessary in situations where there is increased risk - for example in rough seas or while crossing bars.
In Southland, Queenstown Lakes, Wellington and Waikato
• All people on vessels under 6m must wear life jackets at all times.
Other rules on waterways in the Queenstown Lakes District area (including Wanaka and Hawea):
• Failure to carry or wear life jackets is an instant $300 fine.
• A "vessel" is considered to be anything that floats.
• Wetsuits are not considered to be life jackets.
• Local regulations introduced in December 2009 allows the harbourmaster or his team to issue instant fines for 59 water safety breaches (http://www.qldc.govt.nz/boat-safety)
